Manufacture of tubes.



No. 869,476. PATENTE'D 00129. 1907. A. E. BECK. MANUFACTURE OF TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1906 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR EDWARD BECK, OF EARLSWOOI), ENGLAND, ASSIGXOR TU PERKINSl.l.\ll']l'1l ()l WARRING'ION, ENGLAND.

MANUFACTURE OF TUBES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 29, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR EDWARD BECK, a subject of Great Britain,residing at Earlswood House, Earlswood, in the county of Warwick,England, have invented new and useful Improvements Relating to theManufacture of Tubes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of tubes, particularly steelor iron tubes as employed for the conveyance of gas, water, steam, andfor other like purposes.

The object of my invention is to produce such tubes in a weldless orjointless form and in a more direct and economical manner thanheretofore Hitherto it has been the practice of tube makers to commencewith what I designate a finished product in contradistinction to the rawmaterial with which, as will appear hereafter, I begin when I make tubesin accordance with my invention. For example, the

makers of steel tubes have commenced their operations with a steelrolled ingot, and the makers of iron tubes have commenced with an ironbar or strip. Labor and expense is incurred in the production of thesefinished products before the tube making operations proper begins.Proposals have been made to produce iron and steel tubes direct frommolten metal, but they have not proved successful in practice. Accordingto my invention I dispense with the formation of such finished products,and start my tube making operations direct 80 from raw material e. g.molten steel or puddled iron ball direct from the furnace, and I subjectsuch raw material in a heated and plastic condition to the followingsequence of operations viz:-compression, piercing and rolling.

One way of performing my invention may be shortly described thus:I takethe raw material a. g. molten steel or puddled iron ball direct from thefurnace and in the case of iron ball I introduce it direct into acontainer, and in the case of steel I pour the metal into a 40 number ofsuitably sized ingot molds, and place the ingots one ata time 'in thecontainer. Thus in both cases I introduce into the container rawmaterial which is in a suitable condition to be compressed and pierced;and in the container it is submitted to combined compressing andpiercing operations and finally" after it is removed from thecontainer'it' is reduced by means of 'pilger rolls to a tube of therequired diameter and thickness. The object of doing this is to furtherinsure consolidation of the metal, and to save containers 1. e.

' to enable the hollow blooms made in one particular container to beavailable for subsequent reduction by various sets of pilger rolls ofdifferent sizes according to the size of the tube it is desired tomakcat anyone time.

I will now with the aid of the accompanying drawings further describehow my invention may be performed in the most economical way with whichI am at present acquainted.

Figures 1 and 2 are sectional elevations representing, in diagrammaticform, the means for effecting the combined compressing and piercingoperation in the manufacture of tubes in accordance with my invention.Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation showing a modified arrangement of thecombined compressing and piercing appliances.

The same reference letters in the ditt'cncnt views in dicate the same orsimilar parts.

The hot mass of steel or puddled iron. as u, is placed in a container band is therein subjected to a combined compressing andpiercing'operation whereby it is converted into a thick walled tube orhollow bloom as a.

In the lower end of the container b there isa central ram 0 and anannular rain as (Z, arranged respectively within and without each otheras shown. A central ram as e and an annular ramf enter the upper end ofthe container;

For the insertion of the mass of metal as u within the container I)therams e andfare completely withdrawn.

After the insertion of a the said rams e undfare set in operation andthereby caused to press upon and so consolidatc the metal forming a. Theannular lzlmflS thcn retreated while the central 1am e proceeds and picrccs the center of the mass 11, the displaced metal being free to flowback along the space vacated by the annular ramf. The said piercingoperation, which is represented in progress in Fig. 2, continues untilthe upper central ram 6 is in contact or nearly in contact with thecentral ram 0 at the lower or inner' end of the container 12. The ram 0is then caused to recede while the upper central ram e continues 'itsmovement suiliciently to pierce completely through the mass of metal aand so convert the same into a hollow bloom. On the completion of thepiercing as aforesaid, the upper annular ram f may be brought down intocontact with the upper end of the hollow bloom to retain the same duringthe withdrawal of the piercing ram e which is then effectbd. After suchwithdrawal the lower ramsc and (l are advanced into the container toexpel the hollow bloom and also the small disk of metal punched out fromthe end of a by the piercing ram e when the lower or supporting ram 0recedes, as hereinbefore described, at or near the end of the piercingoperation. The lower central ram 0 may be made, as illustrated at Fig.1, to project into the cylinder or container b in advance of itssurrounding annular ram b during the preliminary pressing and throughoutthe greater part of the piercing operation. An annular space as g isthus provided. for the accumulation of the more fluid impurities whichare squeezed out during the initial part of the Compression.

I sometimes dispense, particularly in the production of steel tubes,withothe annular ram f at the upper end of the container 1) and in placeof same employ a false nose or guiding piece as h, Fig. 3. I The saidnose is interposed betweenthe ram e and the work a during thepreliminary compressing process and s0 forms an initial centering oraperture for the subsequent reception, after the removal of h, of thepiercing end of the ram e. It also serves to consolidate the metalbefore the actual piercing operation. The lower central ram 0 may be afixed ram or core having the annular ram d surrounding it. In that casethe 'final piercing through of the lower sea-s76 end of the work a iseffected by a slight advance of the annular ram d before thecommencement oflthe withdrawal of the piercing ram e. The operation ofthe rams is preferably effected by hydraulic power applied in any wellknown manner.v

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent'is:

The manufacture of tubes from raw material by subjecting the crude orpartially.formed mass while in a plastic condition to a consolidatingaction Which.is immediately followed as a part of the same operation bya piercing action. substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR EDWARD BECK.

Witnesses EDWARD MARKS, JOHN Mosesx.

